The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science. Introduced by Jenny Uglow.
by HOLMES, Richard
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Hay-on-Wye, Herefordshire, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Folio Society, London. 2015. First edition in Folio Society, London. 2015. Hardback in grey cloth - which sparkles with blue and silver! - with silver script. xxxi + 576 pages. Colour frontis. and plates internally. Index. Very clean and sound in grey slipcase.
Synopsis
A riveting history of the men and women whose discoveries and inventions at the end of the eighteenth century gave birth to the Romantic Age of Science. When young Joseph Banks stepped onto a Tahitian beach in 1769, he hoped to discover Paradise. Inspired by the scientific ferment sweeping through Britain, the botanist had sailed with Captain Cook on his first Endeavour voyage in search of new worlds. Other voyages of discovery--astronomical, chemical, poetical, philosophical--swiftly follow in Richard Holmes's original evocation of what truly emerges as an Age of Wonder. Brilliantly conceived as a relay of scientific stories, The Age of Wonder investigates the earliest ideas of deep time and space, and the explorers of "dynamic science," of an infinite, mysterious Nature waiting to be discovered. Three lives dominate the book: William Herschel and his sister Caroline, whose dedication to the study of the stars forever changed the public conception of the solar system, the Milky Way, and the meaning of the universe; and Humphry Davy, who, with only a grammar school education stunned the scientific community with his near-suicidal gas experiments that led to the invention of the miners' lamp and established British chemistry as the leading professional science in Europe. This age of exploration extended to great writers and poets as well as scientists, all creators relishing in moments of high exhilaration, boundary-pushing and discovery. Holmes's extraordinary evocation of this age of wonder shows how great ideas and experiments--both successes and failures--were born of singular and often lonely dedication, and how religious faith and scientific truth collide. He has written a book breathtaking in its originality, its storytelling energy, and its intellectual significance.From the Hardcover edition.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Addyman Books
(GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 99055
- Title
- The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science. Introduced by Jenny Uglow.
- Author
- HOLMES, Richard
- Book Condition
- Used
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Date Published
- Folio Society, London. 2015
- Keywords
- SCIENTIFIC, TECHNICAL and MEDICAL history of science folio society
- Bookseller catalogs
- SCIENTIFIC, TECHNICAL and MEDICAL;
Terms of Sale
Addyman Books
All books are First edition, printed in London, unless otherwise stated. We offer a changing selection of old/out-of-print/remaindered books in a wide range of subjects. Every effort has been made to describe the books as accurately as possible, but any items ordered can be returned if not as described within a 7 day period. European Union customers have 14 days.
About the Seller
Addyman Books
Biblio member since 2006
Hay-on-Wye, Herefordshire
About Addyman Books
Addyman Books is based in Hay-on-Wye, the book capital of the world, with almost 30 bookshops in the town, nestled in the Black Mountains of Wales. We have been established since 1986 and have three shops, Addyman Books, Addyman Annexe and Murder & Mayhem. Large general stock. Murder & Mayhem specialises in Detective Fiction, True Crime and Horror.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
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